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Pet Peeve: Airline Travel Bank Funds that are Difficult to Use

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your Memorial Day Weekend is going well.  While planning our upcoming trip to Hawaii (and dealing with expensive rental cars), I had to make some airline flight changes and rediscovered my pet peeve regarding airline travel bank funds.  I have run into this issue with Alaska Airlines and JetBlue, but I’m sure the issue exists on other airlines too.  Nick at Frequent Miler ran into a related issue with United Airlines yesterday.

For our original Alaska Airlines flight home from Hawaii, we had a redeye flight from Lihue (LIH) to Los Angeles (LAX).  I decided to use my $300 incidental travel credit from my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card to pay for upgraded seats which includes 4 more inches of legroom, a free alcoholic beverage, and early boarding.  The upgraded seats cost $133.99 each for a total of $267.98.

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6 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Southwest, Air France / KLM, American, Spirit, Avianca & Air Canada

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Good evening everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 6 offers that end soon.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are 6 offers that end soon.  Up first, Southwest Airlines is offering up to a 75% bonus, depending on the number of Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Points you purchase.  This offer expires tomorrow – May 28.

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PSA: Rental Car Rates are Sky High, Book ASAP

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I have a few trips coming up in the next 2-3 months and needed to make 3 rental car reservations.  I always start with AutoSlash and see what deals they can find for me.  As you may know, there is a rental car shortage around the country and I expected rates to be higher than average, but I was not prepared for the sky high rental car rates (rental car rates are more expensive than airline tickets).

Generally, booking rental cars is the last thing I do when I plan a trip (after booking flights and hotels).  Since rental car rates are much higher than normal, I recommend booking rental cars as soon as possible to lock in the cheapest price.  Learn from my mistakes and save hundreds of dollars on your next rental car reservation.

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20% Bonus Points on US Bank Altitude Reserve from June 1 to July 31 (Targeted Offer)

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Yesterday, I received a letter from US Bank regarding a targeted spending offer on my US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card.  From June 1 to July 31, I can earn 20% bonus points on my purchases.  This is a targeted offer with a unique promo code, so check your mail and email over the next few days for a similar offer on your US Bank credit card.

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3 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Choice Hotels (25%), Alaska Airlines (50%) & United Airlines (85%)

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Good evening everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 3 offers that end soon.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are 3 offers that end soon.  Up first, Choice Hotels is offering a 25% discount, when you purchase at least 4,000 Choice Privileges Points.  This offer expires on May 20.

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